Book Review - Jessica Fellowes's The Mitford Scandal
The Mitford Scandal by Jessica Fellowes
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: January 21st, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy
Louisa Cannon has turned her back on the Mitfords. She had such hopes, such dreams, and here she is a temp hired for a glamorous party at the Guinness household in London. Nothing but a domestic and not even one with a reliable salary. But this is also the night her life will change again thanks to the Mitfords, whether she wants it to or not. The debonair heir, Bryan Guinness, has been wooing Diana Mitford and what transpires at the party makes him realize life is too short and he and Diana should be wed. A maid tragically dies in what appears to be an accident and Bryan pops the question to Diana and she accepts! Now that she's the wife to a Guinness the world is Diana's oyster and she needs her own personal lady's maid, and who better than dear old Louisa? As for dear old Louisa, she isn't exactly in a position to turn the offer down. Such prestige, power, and pay, it's worth putting up with Diana's tempers. Yet murder seems to shadow Diana and Bryan when there's a death at their Paris residence three years later. No one thinks back to that poor maid on the eve of their new lives except Louisa. Louisa senses that they are somehow connected. Two accidents that shouldn't have happened is too much of a coincidence. And who better to ask for help than her old friend Guy Sullivan? He happens to be in Paris following a missing persons case with his best friend Harry and Harry's new wife, Guy's partner, Mary Moon! They sadly get nowhere on either case and Louisa is whisked off in the wake of Diana once again. Though the company Diana is starting to keep is far more political. She's turning away from the bright young things and turning towards Oswald Mosley. Louisa knows it isn't any of her business, she's paid to be Diana's friend and secret keeper, but these secrets are dangerous. And it doesn't help that this confidence doesn't go both ways. Diana won't hear about there being a murderer amongst her friends, even when a third body appears. What is Louisa to do?
If you haven't guessed by now we're working our way through the Mitford sisters in Jessica Fellowes's series, the ironically titled "Mitford Murders Mystery." So the third book means it's Diana's turn, with Unity, Decca, and Debo waiting in the wings, and yes, I feel sorry for them in advance with whatever Jessica Fellowes has planned for them. The problem with Diana is she's a deplorable. She is a genuinely horrible human. The fact that she was married to Oswald Mosley in Goebbels's drawing room with Hitler in attendance is the one sentence bio that adequately covers what a horrid human being she was. While this series has always been more concerned with the "look" of the Mitfords than the "spirit" of them I have to say that Jessica Fellowes did a good job portraying Diana, because not only did I hate the book for myriad writing and plotting reasons, but I hated it for Diana. And thankfully it feels like Jessica Fellowes hates Diana too, because I've come to terms with her being a bad writer, but if she was also a bad human, if she made Diana a heroine, well, I don't think I could stomach that. Though her hatred of Diana made the writing at times a tad heavy handed with the Nazi side of things. But I think that can be forgiven, because now, more then ever, people need to be reminded that Nazis are bad. As I write this Nazi Germany is trending on Twitter, that is how relevant Nazis are. But the Diana hatred oozing off the pages made me dislike this book on a level not seen since I read Diana's autobiography A Life of Contrasts. It's really hard to like a book with an unappealing villain as the star. Add to that my myriad issues with the series as a whole, and there was no way I was going to like this. Throw in the weird timeline with us jumping years ahead at random intervals and we're supposed to believe that the crimes committed are in the front of everyone's minds all that time later? That's preposterous. Much like calling this series "A Mitford Murders Mystery."
I fully admit that the one and only reason I watched this miniseries was to see a young Giles. I might have a thing for Anthony Stewart Head, especially as Watcher and librarian on Buffy the Vampire Slayer... Therefore, over the years, I've tried to make sure I watch everything he's currently in and in my spare time watch his back catalog. Back in that catalog was this wonderful adaptation of Love in a Cold Climate, where just two years after appearing on Lillie he's back on the small screen as Tony Kroesig, the very minimally fictionalized Bryan Guinness. He's just simply adorable with his blonde hair rescuing a rabbit for his future wife who will bolt on him. He's just so perfectly cast and that's what makes this adaptation stand out for me. The cast was so fully rounded and actually felt like a family. Well, when Judi Dench signs on, even in the eighties she had pull, and well, everyone else just fell into place, even her real life husband Michael Williams joined as Davey Warbeck! See, a family! And as Tony's wife Linda is the wonderful Lucy Gutteridge, whom I adore as the love interest opposite Val Kilmer in Top Secret! and in Till We Meet Again, the miniseries I always call "the one where Hugh Grant's a Nazis!" And in an entirely random roll we have Anthony Higgins, Rathe from Young Sherlock Holmes, playing an over-the-top chef who doesn't speak English! I could go on and on, but just take my word for it, perfect casting. Also, seeing as until now, all adaptations named Love in a Cold Climate are actually adaptations of two of Nancy Mitford's books, The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate, crammed under the more memorably named book, we have a lot of ground to cover in one series. Unlike the one at the turn of the century which was only two episodes jammed together as one movie stateside, here we have eight episodes to luxuriate in the story. To get all the details right. And why is that important now? Because we have another adaptation on the way! So it's time to bring out the books, sit down and watch these two adaptations, and then see if this new version with Lily James is up to snuff or if she should have stayed away, like with Rebecca.
